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Monday, June 30, 2008

The Literate Ukrainian

Even though I feel quite stupid because of my lack of language skills here (pointing at things is so useful!) I am amazed at the literacy rate in Ukraine. My sister, who is a teacher, tells me that the literacy rate in Ukraine is around 99%. Everybody reads; you see them in parks, of which there are hundreds -- on a short walk around the neighbourhood I saw at least 3 separate parks with benches and some kind of statue. In the park nearest us there is an ice cream kiosk, and a book stall!

There are also many, many street kiosks around the city, some selling fruit, some drinks, some pastry, and always one lined with newspapers. There must be at least 5 Kiev newspapers alone. Education is valued, as well. There is a pedagogical monument to the Father of Education in Ukraine outside the "pedagogy house".

I was also fortunate enough to meet up with a very friendly librarian, a Fulbright scholar who has been working with libraries all over Ukraine for the past 10 months. She showed me the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, a university established in 1615, though only in the 1990's restored to a liberal arts university. I saw the main library, which to my surprise was funded largely by donors from the Canadian diaspora of Ukrainians. It was lovely.

Bridget - my sister said that when she told people she was a teacher, they were impressed and treated her with respect, something she had not experienced in North America.

Eva - there was a lot of the sunbathing & making out, too! ;)

Bookfool - now, I don't know how they measure the literacy rate, but it does seem very high in any case.

Jenny - there were also 2 English Kyiv weeklies which we enjoyed - I think newspapers are still relied on in Canada, but not quite to that extent.

Dark Orpheus - thanks! I am so glad I had a digital camera to take with me!

Kate - libraries and nice librarians were great on my trip!

Duck Thief - even though there were only a tiny proportion of English books in the stall, I still had to hold myself back - I left one book there that I will always wonder if I should have bought!

Heather - we were talking to a Ukrainian man who's been in Canada and other places often, and he told us that education in Ukraine was of very high quality and well respected, though he feels that the standards from the Soviet tradition are diminishing in the years since Independence. And he is a well-travelled, Western oriented man.

Andi - I am having so much fun sharing my photos etc. I only took 695 pictures so I don't know if I have any others of interest... :)